beaker

The scene on this beaker copies one of Raphael's most famous paintings, the Madonna della Sedia (1513), which is in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy. It is considered to be one of the most successful tondi (circular paintings) in the history of art. Anton Heinrich Pfeiffer (1801–1866) chose his first and middle names out of respect for his teacher, Anton Heinrich Mattoni (1779–1864), who presumably also had some influence on the best engraver of that period, Dominik Biemann (1800–1857). Pfeiffer's technical skills rivaled those of Biemann, but unlike Biemann, he specialized in religious scenes. Pfeiffer built a large workshop in the Bohemian spa town of Karlsbad. While most of the works related to him must be attributed to his assistants, the supreme quality of the engraving on our newly acquired beaker shows the hand of the master.